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JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Softbank unit, Lehman form online bond-trading venture

Softbank Finance Corp. and Lehman Brothers announced on Thursday the establishment of a joint venture tasked with operating Japan's first online bond-trading system. Named E-Bond Securities Co., the new brokerage will operate a proprietary trading system to deal mostly in municipal bonds, bank debentures...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2000

In defense of U Thant

VICTORIA, Australia -- Much criticism has been written about U Thant, the third secretary general of the United Nations, who died from cancer 25 years ago on Nov. 25, 1974. While some of it may be just, much of it is not.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Corporate star aims to shake up UNHCR

Staff writer Despite large financial contributions made by the government to international causes, Japanese are often criticized for being invisible in the global community. Kiyoshi Murakami, who will become chief of the Career & Staff Support Service at the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

State considers move to inflation targeting

Staff writer With little room left for government spending to stimulate the fragile economy, political pressure on the Bank of Japan is rising. The Liberal Democratic Party's panel on financial affairs decided Thursday to launch a working team next week to study whether the BOJ should adopt inflation...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Seat-cut bill rammed through Lower House

The ruling parties on Thursday night ignored an opposition boycott of a Lower House plenary session and passed a controversial bill that would cut 20 seats from the chamber. Passage came around 8:30 -- 7 1/2 hours after the session was to open. It was the second time in as many nights that the ruling...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

NTT-Matsushita venture to sell music by PHS

NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co. announced Thursday that they will establish a joint venture early next month to distribute music over PHS phones. Air Media Incorporation will be capitalized at 400 million yen. NTT DoCoMo will own 51 percent and Matsushita...
SPORTS
Jan 27, 2000

Vermeil: the epitome of coaching, class

ATLANTA -- The old coach has done it again.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000

Wineries to complement your travel plans

In the dead of winter, what's a wine lover to do? I'm almost tempted to say "Bring back the hot, spicy wine," the body-warming concoction quaffed at stalls in town center squares all over Europe toward year's end. It's a splendid custom, but actually what I had in mind is winery visits in California....
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 27, 2000

Culinary fire power, Szechwan style

They've never been big on central heating over in the Middle Kingdom. In rural Sichuan, when the icy winter gales blow in from across the Gobi desert, there's only one prescription for keeping the cold at bay: spicy food -- especially the fiery local hotpots -- at regular intervals and in generous quantities....
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Auto production fell below 10 million in 1999

Automobile production in 1999 dropped 1.5 percent from the previous year to 9,895,476 vehicles, falling below the 10 million mark for the first time in 20 years, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Thursday. Auto production decreased for two consecutive years, according to the association.Of...
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Team attempts Khmer software to computerize Cambodia

Staff writer When you send e-mail, either in English or Japanese, you assume it can be read on the recipient's computer screen without any problems. But if the message is in Khmer, chances are that it will be turned into a series of symbols that make no sense. "What is common in Japan (and other industrialized...
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2000

Postal savings outflow to help lagging shares

With money flowing into the stock market, investors are opting to purchase long-neglected low-priced stocks.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Fukaya plans U.S. trip sometime before G8 meeting

Takashi Fukaya, the international trade and industry minister, is considering a trip to Washington in February or March for talks with top U.S. officials on the new round of global trade liberalization negotiations, sources at his ministry said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Multitrillion yen expansion urged for Tokyo rail system

The 426-km railway network of the Tokyo metropolitan area should be extended or interlinked in a more efficient manner by 2015 to ease rush-hour congestion, according to a report submitted Thursday to Transport Minister Toshihiro Nikai. The plan, drawn up by the Transport Policy Council, recommends...
COMMUNITY
Jan 27, 2000

Overcoming blind discrimination

In the past 10 years, 71-year-old Atsuko Yasumoto has fulfilled many lifelong dreams. She has swum with dolphins in Hawaii, climbed mountaintops in Japan, traveled to the United States, and won first prize in a ballroom dance contest in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2000

Serial killer claims he was forced into confessing

Convicted serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki told the Tokyo High Court on Thursday he was forced into confessing to the murders of three young girls on the first day of his arrest in July 1989 although he was apprehended on molestation charges. During defense questioning, Miyazaki, 37, said he was detained...
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 26, 2000

Korean owners play hardball, expel players from professional league for organizing union

After a group of Korean professional baseball players from the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) formally announced they had formed a player union last Friday, the KBO and team presidents held an emergency meeting the following morning in Seoul and expelled all union members from the league.
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2000

Bright lanterns, big New Year

Chinese New Year is always explosive, and that has nothing to do with Y2K. It is a three-day whirl of festivities, dancing dragons and lions, prayers, fiery lanterns, "lucky money" for children and mountains of exquisite dishes.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 26, 2000

Restore time-honored electoral system

There are a number of things wrong with the Japanese political system. One is the combination of the single-seat constituency and proportional representation systems to elect the members of the House of Representatives. I also believe that the present system of electing the members of the House of Councilors...
EDITORIALS
Jan 26, 2000

Russia's mystery man

Far more is asserted about Russia's acting president, Mr. Vladimir Putin, than is known. He rose through the state security apparatus, where his steely eye and no-nonsense demeanor impressed President Boris Yeltsin, who named him acting prime minister in August last year. Upon Mr. Yeltsin's surprise...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Forgeries force Takashimaya to reissue 300,000 credit cards

OSAKA -- The Takashimaya department store chain has reissued about 300,000 credit cards in the wake of reports last year of forgeries, it was learned Wednesday. More than 10 cases of fraud involving forged Takashimaya credit cards had been reported every month since last spring, and the number rose...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Japan, U.S. leaders to huddle on foreign investment

Staff writer Japan and the United States will hold a conference of senior government officials and business leaders in Tokyo on March 1 to discuss ways to further accelerate direct foreign investment in Japan, government sources said Wednesday. According to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry...
COMMUNITY
Jan 26, 2000

Watching the world go by: portrait of a centenarian

When she was in her 70s, Xing Guizhen brushed aside the idea of false teeth. "There's no need," she declared. "I'm going to die in a few days."
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Lower House seat reduction: cunning cut or rash slashing?

Staff writer A battle over a controversial bill to abolish 20 proportional-representation seats in the Lower House is rocking the Diet, with the opposition parties threatening to boycott all deliberations if the bill is forced through. Deadlock could even force Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to dissolve...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

U.N. drug program calls for more funds

Staff writer The head of the United Nations Drug-Control Program hopes Japan will devote more of its U.N. contribution to the program, claiming it is cost-effective in the domestic war against narcotics. Pointing out Japan's declining contribution to the Vienna-based UNDCP, Executive Director Pino Arlacchi...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Fuji Bank to set up Japan's first M&A firm

Fuji Bank will become the first Japanese bank to set up a company for mergers and acquisitions, it was learned Wednesday. The new company, Fuji Capital Management, will start operations in February with an investment fund pool of 20 billion yen, industry sources said. The company will provide investment...
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2000

The menu's a long fellow at Coffee House Poem

As "the new millennium" approached, there were endless arguments over whether we actually had cause to celebrate. The "Is it 2000 or 2001?" debate continues, but certainly no one would dispute that the number 100 represents a long life, a perfect score or the number of coffees available on the menu at...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Panel asked to find better ways of teaching English

To produce more Japanese who can communicate effectively in the international community in the 21st century, the Education Ministry set up an advisory panel Wednesday to map out recommendations on better ways of teaching English. At the panel's first meeting, Education Minister Hirofumi Nakasone said...
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
Jan 26, 2000

Memories can't wait

This year's New Year's cleaning was quick: Pull out the file of Y2K clippings and dump all the doom and gloom in the trash with nary a backward glance. That got me digging through other files, and I spent a merry half hour reliving the Internet's infancy: the prospect of genuinely mobile computing (shades...
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2000

Domestic car output fell in '99

Stagnant sales at home led to a decline in domestic production while strong North American sales led to an increase in overseas output for most major Japanese automakers in 1999, it was announced Wednesday. Nissan Motor Co., however, experienced a decline in both domestic and overseas production. Overseas...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji